Visual Basic Language Keywords

The following tables list all the Visual Basic language keywords.

Reserved Keywords

The following keywords are reserved, which means you cannot use them as names for your programming elements such as variables or procedures. You can bypass this restriction by enclosing the name in brackets ([ ]). For more information, see "Escaped Names" in Declared Element Names.

Note

Using escaped names is not recommended, because it can make your code hard to read, and can lead to subtle errors that can be difficult to find.

AddHandler	AddressOf	Alias	And
AndAlso	As	Boolean	ByRef
Byte	ByVal	Call	Case
Catch	CBool	CByte	CChar
CDate	CDec	CDbl	Char
CInt	Class	CLng	CObj
Const	Continue	CSByte	CShort
CSng	CStr	CType	CUInt
CULng	CUShort	Date	Decimal
Declare	Default	Delegate	Dim
DirectCast	Do	Double	Each
Else	ElseIf	End	EndIf
Enum	Erase	Error	Event
Exit	False	Finally	For
Friend	Function	Get	GetType
GetXMLNamespace	Global	GoSub	GoTo
Handles	If	If()	Implements
Imports (.NET Namespace and Type)	Imports (XML Namespace)	In	Inherits
Integer	Interface	Is	IsNot
Let	Lib	Like	Long
Loop	Me	Mod	Module
MustInherit	MustOverride	MyBase	MyClass
Namespace	Narrowing	New	Next
Not	Nothing	NotInheritable	NotOverridable
Object	Of	On	Operator
Option	Optional	Or	OrElse
Overloads	Overridable	Overrides	ParamArray
Partial	Private	Property	Protected
Public	RaiseEvent	ReadOnly	ReDim
REM	RemoveHandler	Resume	Return
SByte	Select	Set	Shadows
Shared	Short	Single	Static
Step	Stop	String	Structure
Sub	SyncLock	Then	Throw
To	True	Try	TryCast
TypeOf	Variant	Wend	UInteger
ULong	UShort	Using	When
While	Widening	With	WithEvents
WriteOnly	Xor	#Const	#Else
#ElseIf	#End	#If	=
&	&=	*	*=
/	/=	\	\=
^	^=	+	+=
-	-=	>> Operator (Visual Basic)	>>= Operator (Visual Basic)
<<	<<=

Note

EndIf, GoSub, Variant, and Wend are retained as reserved keywords, although they are no longer used in Visual Basic. The meaning of the Let keyword has changed. Let is now used in LINQ queries. For more information, see Let Clause (Visual Basic).

Unreserved Keywords

The following keywords are not reserved, which means you can use them as names for your programming elements. However, doing this is not recommended, because it can make your code hard to read and can lead to subtle errors that can be difficult to find.

Aggregate	Ansi	Assembly	Auto
Binary	Compare	Custom	Distinct
Equals	Explicit	From	Group By
Group Join	Into	IsFalse	IsTrue
Join	Key (Visual Basic)	Mid	Off
Order By	Preserve	Skip	Skip While
Strict	Take	Take While	Text
Unicode	Until	Where	#ExternalSource
#Region

See Also

Reference

Visual Basic Run-Time Library Members

Keywords and Members by Task

Keywords Compared in Different Languages